A POLICE officer has been found guilty of stamping on the neck of a female prisoner in far north Queensland.

Constable Alex Alexander, 52, pleaded not guilty to a charge of common assault, after it was alleged he stamped on Melanie Burgoyne's head or neck after restraining her in the Cairns watchhouse on August 30 last year.

Ms Burgoyne had been arrested on a charge of public nuisance in central Cairns. Ms Burgoyne, who was heavily intoxicated at the time, had used her bra in an attempt to choke herself in the back of the police wagon. As she was being brought to the watchhouse, Ms Burgoyne flicked her bra at Alexander.

He then grabbed Ms Burgoyne by the neck and right arm and threw her to the ground, placing his knee on her back to restrain her.

Watchhouse officer Mark Webb and shift supervisor Sergeant Melanie Flynn both testified to seeing Alexander strike Ms Burgoyne twice to the neck or head with his boot. Alexander said any contact with Ms Burgoyne's head had been accidental.

In the Cairns Magistrates Court today, Alexander was found guilty. Magistrate Jane Bentley said she accepted Officer Webb and Sgt Flynn's version of events.

She said Ms Burgoyne throwing the bra at Alexander was an assault, but said it was "fleeting", and was complete before he reacted to it. "The throwing of the bra was not such that it would induce an ordinary person to lose control," Ms Bentley said.

Ms Bentley said Alexander had stepped outside the reasonable actions of a police officer. "The defendant was not acting under any lawful justification," she said. Alexander, who was stood down from duty, will be sentenced in the same court on Tuesday.

Monday, April 2, 2012

POLICE Ethical Standards Unit is investigating why an officer allegedly found drunk, disorderly and in a state of undress was not charged after a night in Townsville's watchhouse.

The 27-year-old based in North Queensland was on his way to the Queensland Police Service Rugby League Festival at Airlie Beach late last month, but it's unclear whether he was also caught driving over the limit.

The Courier-Mail understands that his visit wasn't logged at the watchhouse, breaching police procedure. Police are also required to report misconduct involving officers to superiors.

The officer, in Townsville for an internal QPS course, was allegedly at least partially naked and acting inappropriately on Monday, March 26. "The officer was allegedly found affected by alcohol and taken by police to the watchhouse," QPS said in a statement.

"Police regularly divert persons from formal charges for a number of reasons, including persons who are drunk in a public place ... in this case however the officer was taken to the watchhouse and was not charged at the time. "The Service acknowledges that correct procedure was not followed in this regard."

The Courier-Mail understands the matter was only raised when the officer reported his watch had been stolen at the watchhouse, but there were no records he'd even been there. "The officer involved advised a colleague he lost his watch, which was located and subsequently returned to him," QPS said in a statement.

Police said the investigation would focus on the officer's conduct as well as the "actions and decision-making of a number of officers aware of the incident or involved in it".

It's not the first time police have been reported behaving badly at the time of the QPS Rugby League Festival. Last year, an officer from the Cairns Special Emergency Response squad pleaded guilty to public nuisance after allegedly dancing in his underpants near the face of a fellow officer who passed out at the Kingaroy McDonald's during the 2011 country football carnival celebrations.

Constable Daniel Kennedy was fined $250 at Kingaroy Magistrate's Court. It was revealed at the time, the action was caught on closed circuit television cameras monitoring the McDonald's restaurant.

About Me

I am a 5'10" tall, jocular former university teacher aged 70 at the time of writing in early 2014 who still has a fair bit of hair. I am Australian born of working class origins and British ancestry. My doctorate is in psychology but I taught mainly sociology (Research Methods) in my 14 years as a university teacher. In High Schools I taught economics. I have taught in both traditional and "progressive" (low discipline) High Schools. My main interests are blogging, classical music, history, the stockmarket, current affairs and languages. I have been married four times to four fine women with whom I am still on amicable terms. I have one son born in 1987. I am totally non-sporting and have never owned a firearm. My brother has enough guns for the whole family. I did however enjoy my weapons training in the Army.
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